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comma with 'which' [relative pronoun]: tears with the sleeve which

ryansamturner

Member
British English
In the sentence below do you think I should enter a comma before 'which'?

Every now and again she’d wipe the tears away with the sleeve of her grey merino wool cardigan which turned the fabric into a dampened shade of black.
Which here refers to wiping with the sleeve (i.e. an action which turned the fabric black). A comma is needed as it is a supplementary statement (known traditionally as a non-defining or nonrestrictive relative clause).
It is also possible to take the which as referring to tears, but this is less likely in my view. In this case, too, a comma would be written.
Every now and again she’d wipe the tears away with the sleeve of her grey merino wool cardigan which turned the fabric into a dampened shade of black.

The first thing is that the position of "which" makes the which refer to "the sleeve of her grey merino wool cardigan", which doesn't make sense.

It should be,

Every now and again she’d wipe the tears away with the sleeve of her grey merino wool cardigan (削除) which turned (削除ここまで) turning the fabric into a dampened shade of black.

which has no which... but in such cases, a comma comes before the which.
Last edited:
The first thing is that the position of "which" makes the which refer to "the sleeve of her grey merino wool cardigan", which doesn't make sense.
Just as the comma in this sentence marks "which doesn't make sense" as an adverbial clause modifying "makes the which refer to .... "

so does the inserted comma [cardigan, which] mark "which turned the fabric into a dampened shade of black" as an adverbial clause describing the effect of "wiped her tears away ...." as e2efour explains above.

Every now and again she’d wipe the tears away with the sleeve of her grey merino wool cardigan, which turned the fabric into a dampened shade of black.

It is possible to use a participial phrase, but it is not necessary, nor more grammatically correct.
The comma is required when the 'which' refers to the whole situation described in the previous phrase, not just to a particular thing in it. If it was the cardigan which turned the fabric black, you wouldn't need it. But it is the fact/situation that she would wipe away the tears which is doing it, so you need a comma to separate 'which' from particular words in the sentence.
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